High-rise bhoomipujan cancelled for 3rd time

This is the third time the scheduled bhoomipujan for the trial project under the Dharavi Redevelopment Plan has been cancelled in the past three months. It was first planned on August 15 and then on Dussehra.

“We have now told the contractor to start the work. There is no requirement of a bhoomipujan and there are no chances that the terms of the project will be revised to give the locals bigger tenements,” said Satish Gavai,vice-president of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA). “We will explain this to the people protesting against the project. Work should start within the next few days.”

Gavai said MHADA has to construct a high-rise with three wings of 14 floors each in Sector 5 under the Dharavi Redevelopment Plan. The contract has been awarded to B G Shirke Construction to build 344 tenements of 300 square feet each. Local political leaders and residents under the Dharavi Bachao Andolan have been demanding tenements of 400 square feet each.

“We won’t allow them to conduct a bhoomipujan again or start construction till they meet our demands. The project is meant for the people,so they have to take them into consideration. We weren’t even told that there was a bhoomipujan. We got to know just yesterday,” said Baburao Mane,former MLA and a member of the Shiv Sena.

Mane said the protesters had united across party lines,with local leaders of the Shiv Sena,Bharatiya Janata Party,Republican Party of India and the Samajwadi Party having come together.

“We also want an assurance from the state government that they will construct small market places for Dharavi residents,who run their business from home but once they shift to high-rises they won’t be able to do so,” he added.

Asking for more

MHADA has to construct a high-rise with three wings of 14 floors each in Sector 5 under the Dharavi Redevelopment Plan

The contract has been awarded to B G Shirke Construction to build 344 tenements of 300 sq ft each

Leaders and residents under the Dharavi Bachao Andolan are demanding tenements of 400 sq ft each